For those of you who routinely search for the latest (and hottest) Megan Fox pics via Google Image search on your iPhone, you may already have noticed some interface changes. To make mobile browsing of piccies even more intuitive, Google have redesigned the Image Search module for iPhone 3.0+ and Android 2.1 devices. Here are some of the highlights:

The thumbnails are square to maximize the number of images we can get on the screen at one time so you can scan them quickly

You can swipe to see the next or previous page of results, or tap the large, stationary ‘Next’ and ‘Previous’ page buttons

We optimized for speed so that the images appear quickly when you browse

And like an app, you can now swipe across the screen on both the search and individual image pages to view the next/previous results. To start using the new version of Image Search, all you have to do is go to www.google.com on your iPhone/iPod Touch and tap on “Images”. Video of the new interface in action after the gap.

Without a software platform to aim the silicon guns, there can be no platform war. And if TechCrunch’s lead is more than just rumour, HP may be sunning their Slate out of Microsoft’s musty Windows 7 cocoon. HP may even drop Intel’s Atom for a less power-hungry platform, in which case, Windows 7 is right out. WebOS, Android, and Chrome stand primed as candidates, but as I mentioned before, tablet computing needs tight integration of software and hardware.

Jobs ain’t gonna like this – Android for the iPhone is out. If you are the owner of anything but an iPhone 3GS and hate Jobsian control, but love Jobsian design, but don’t want to get an Android contract, but don’t know why you have an iphone – why not step over to the Android side of things? Naturally, an OS which isn’t specifically made for a piece of hardware is going have its issues, but that isn’t really the issue is it? The issue, rather, is that Apple’s hegemony – their complete control of a closed device – has been broken yet again, and this time far more intimately than by jailbreaking. The installation has some quirks, but what alternative firmware doesn’t?

Years ago, specifications such as CPU, GPU and ram meant the world to intrepid hardware houses. Times have changed; hardware is still important, but like certain phantom hardware plaforms, it doesn’t tell the whole story. In an increasingly crowded arena, developers large and small have to take sides and ultimately, platforms survive based on their subscriptions. ODROID is an Android-powered developer platform which bears a striking resemblance to the Atari Lynx. It has everything including the kitchen sink under the bonnet: top audio, video, cpu, capacitive touch screen and lo’ and behold: buttons! But most importantly, it exists for the developer to explore possibilities with Android.

ODROID isn’t new, but it does have some new videos and is a great benchmark for what the developer community has up their sleeves. The game in the video is Speed Forge Extreme, a game already on the iPhone:

Yesterday’s news, aka Dell, have got a little something something up their sleeves: a 5 inch slate device which packs a neat little camera a the most flattering of shiny screens. While its nomenclature reminds one of a car, and not to mention the fact that DELL is a four letter word around certain parts, the device is cute. Techie bits and tits aside, the Mini 5 has one very good thing going for it. No, it isn’t the jump-on-the-bandwagon-copying-Apple’s-shiny-advert-shots. No – it is Android under the bonnet. That this squeaky clean machine been tied to Windows Mobile, this post would lost in the fray. Android is going places where OSX and Windows aren’t welcome: the kitchen, a place where computerised appliances such as microwaves are queueing up for robotic love.

Google’s OS totin’ phones have another reason to rejoice in early 2010: the ever-popular Homerun Battle 3D will make its way to the Android platform. Com2uS have published many games for a variety of mobile platforms, but Homerun will be their first Android release. It is also a great title to start from; it already has more than 400 000 registered users on the iPhone and with Com2uS’ pledge to support cross-platform play, the Android release should be great. More titles are promised to follow from the mobile software giant, and hopefully, a host of other cross-platform games.

Like shooting at F2.8, the Nexus One is wide open thanks to the destructive geeks at ifixit.com. Evidently, the new phone is thoughtfully designed, at least as it applies to tear downs. Indeed, nothing really new under the hood, but the poor thing does go to pieces pretty well. That and Google’s OS under the hood should make this a very interesting buy and wonderful competition for the iPhone.

Dell have been in bed with the world’s largest telecom carrier, China Mobile since embedding their 3G tech into Dell netbooks and will be inundating an expectant (and populace) China Mobile customer base with the Mini 3 smartphone. Dell’s exciting new phone carries the Android OS and is built around the creatively named oPhone platform. In a lateral move, Brazil’s Claro (which just so happens to have more customers than Canada has people) will be the world’s first carrier to introduce the 3G version of Dell’s smartphone.

This year has been extremely fruitful for new operating systems targeted at mobile devices. And now, surprise surprise, Samsung, one of THE largest electronics manufacturer in the world and number two mobile phone manufacturer in the world, have issued a press release about Bada – their new mobile OS.

Motorola’s new Android phone will be released on Verizon for American customers, and in the downtime between hype and release, the once-proud electronics company have somehow dropped the towel from the gentle genitals of their yet-to-be-born handset. But not to worry, their yet unborn offspring ripples with the vigour of advanced hardware features and of course, Android. On the cusp of Verizon’s iDon’t campaign, the whole affair reeks of a well-ordered attack on Apple’s hegemony. Specifically, it targets the iPhone’s following weaknesses: